Audi’s drive-system strategy also includes an initial small series with fuel cells, which the automaker will put on the road in 2020, said Peter Mertens, Member of the Board of Management, Technical Development, during his speech at the company’s annual press conference.

Mertens also referenced the company’s ongoing work into other synthetic fuels (e-fuels) that can be used in existing engines to conserve resources and protect the climate (earlier post). A prominent production example is the A3/A4/A5 g-tron fleet running on Audi e-gas.

Earlier this month, Audi and its development partners Global Bioenergies S.A. and the Fraunhofer Center for Chemical Biotechnological Processes (CBP) reported that they had for the first time produced a sufficient quantity—60 liters (15.9 gallons US), the largest batch yet produced—of synthetic Audi e-gasoline for initial engine tests.